Only a Ghost
by glanmire
Summary: Post-DOFP. Kitty Pryde travels back to 1974, where she meets Pietro. Maybe that wasn't a good idea.


I.

Kitty lay on her bunk in the mansion, staring up at the ceiling above her.  
Lately she'd be getting this semi-formed feeling, an idea that was like a cold draft she could never pinpoint the source of- the idea that she could do more with her power. She just didn't know what that extra something was.

She'd gone and talked to the Prof about it, and that had been weird enough. Prof wasn't the kind of guy you just sat and had chats with, well, at least not anymore. He had the air of a guy who was too busy being wise and diplomatically saving the world than to listen your problems. Kitty had lived in this mansion nearly all her life but didn't think she'd ever spoke to him alone once. She supposed that students as a rule didn't really chill out with their headmaster.

"It's just," she had explained rather badly, "Magneto was only able to move metal at first, and then he thought about electromagnetic fields and sudden he could fly by pushing away from that. I've got this feeling that's there's more applications to my mutation too, ones that I'm not tapping into."  
She didn't miss the change in expression on the Prof's face when she mentioned Magneto, but she didn't acknowledge it either. That was one of the unspoken rules.

"Ms Pryde" he had begun. He'd been calling her that ever since she starting teaching a few classes now and again. It was a form of respect, she guessed, a way to differentiate who she was now from the kid she was when she first got here.  
"What element do you believe you're missing? You can already phase through physical barriers- do you believe you can go through mental ones too, for example?"

"No," she had replied, chewing on her lip. "I don't think it's like that. But like, I can move through space, right? So what about time?"

"It's a fascinating concept," the Prof had said flatly, like he didn't care at all. "Get Hank to do some tests next time he gets a chance."

And that was that. The Prof clearly didn't want her pursuing it any further.

But Kitty was young and bored and wasn't this the whole point of being a mutant, the point of being at this school? To push yourself to your limits?  
The Prof used to put his hand to his temple when he was using his power, so Kitty put her own hands to her temples, and concentrated. She built that feeling in her belly that she got when she phased, but didn't focus on passing through the physical world around her; she thought about time instead, and how it was a stream and how surely she could slip through-

Blue light shot out of her hands and into her temples. Kitty Pryde only had time to say, "Shit," and then she was gone.

II.

Bobby knocked on Kitty's door. He liked to come to her room in the evenings for a game of cards, or just to hang out. Rogue was great and all, but sometimes she could be a bit serious, and she didn't seem to mind him being friends with Kitty, so that was good.

"Kitty?" he asked. No answer. Bobby wasn't the kind of guy who would burst into a girl's room unless he had good reason- though if he needed to, he could freeze the lock and then shatter it. But there was probably no need to worry. She was most likely just in the shower or something.

He turned and went back to the kitchen. He'd come back in a while, just to make sure.

III.

Kitty blinked. She was still in her bed - thank God- but the room was all wrong, all different. The wallpaper was outdated, and the room was crammed with useless things, pots of paint and pinball machines and-

"Hello there. How did you get in here?" a voice asked her. A boy with grey hair and bright eyes appeared in front of her, and then was sitting on the desk in the corner, his knees pulled into his chest, before she could blink.

"Shit," Kitty said again. She needed to watch her mouth, sure, but this once she felt this was appropriate.

The boy's eyes went wide and then he was by her side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine," she said. "Just, woah. What year is it?"

She didn't think his eyes could go any wider but they did.

"You're a time-traveller? That's awesome by the way. It's 1974. Do you want a glass of water or something?"

"Yeah," she managed, and he was gone and back again, the glass in his hand, a little water spilling over the side.

"I'm Pietro by the way. What's your name? When are you from?"

"2014. I'm Kitty Pryde. I'm a mutant."

"First time time travelling?" Peter asked, looking sympathetic.

"Yeah. Went a little further than I meant to. This is my room in the future though."

"Is it?' Pietro asked. "I wonder what I'm doing then. Suppose it would be ridiculous if I was still here, in the school. Do you know me in the future?"

She shook her head. Pietro looked disappointed. "Shame. But it's cool, I can tell we're going to be friends now anyway."

He twitched, and then there was a sandwich in his hand. "Hungry?"

"No thanks," she said.

He watched her carefully as he ate the sandwich. "If this is your first time time-travelling, what's your normal power?"

"Phasing," she said, and like a hand slicing through water she let herself drop through the bed, and landed gently on the floor underneath. In hindsight, it was a terrible idea - there was dust and sock and other things she didn't want to investigate, and she rolled out as quick as she could. "Pietro, you gotta clean under there," she said as she emerged, sneezing.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting guests," Pietro said smiling. "Your power is neat though."

"Thanks. Yours too."

She sat on the bed again but Pietro pulled her up. "C'mon, don't you want a look around? How often are you gonna be in 1974?"

"I can't be seen by people I know now though."

"Why, will the world explode? Is that a paradox?"

She laughed. "I don't know, but I'm not willing to risk it.

"I can tell you're a clever lady, Kitty. Come on, hop on my back so."

She blinked. "What?"

Pietro sighed, like he was used to having to explain things. "You hop on my back, and phase us through walls so we don't have to use the corridor. If you see someone you know, I can run us away really fast before they see you."

Kitty appraised him. "You're a little crazy, aren't you?"

"It's all part of the charm."

Kitty liked Pietro already, but didn't really feel to comfortable hopping onto his back just yet.

"Can't we just link up?" she suggested.

Pietro's face fell. "I guess. Though don't be startled if I suddenly scoop you up, okay? Don't want you getting whiplash."

"Okay," she said, and Pietro extended an arm.

"This is going to be so much fun."

IV.

Bobby came back an hour later. He was punctual like that.

The door was still locked, and maybe he was being an idiot but he turned and climbed the stairs that led to the Prof's office.

"Come on in Bobby," Prof's voice said from inside when he knocked. Guess that was one perk to being a telepath- always knowing who was outside the door.

"Emm, I'm sorry it's so late Prof," he began, poking his head inside the door.

"No need to apologise Bobby. What's troubling you?"

"Could you, emm, search for Kitty's presence? It's just- I don't think she's in her room?"

The Prof looked worried at that, and Bobby felt ridiculous, because if she was there then he would have caused all this hassle for nothing.

A long moment passed. Bobby looked around the office, trying not to stare at the Prof, who had a hand to his temple and was evidently concentrating.

"Ms Pryde's body is still in the house, but her consciousness is elsewhere," the Prof said eventually, his voice grave. "Thank you for warning me Bobby."

"Wait, what? Is she unconscious, or hurt, or-"

He trailed off to the look on the Prof's face. "What? Do you know what's going on?"

The Prof looked away. "I have a good idea. I wouldn't worry Bobby. Ms Pryde will come back to us whenever she deems fit."

V.

Kitty and Pietro phased through the wall into what was Rogue's room in Kitty's day. A blond man was in there, doing sit-ups. He was very, very attractive, Kitty realised, and at least she didn't know him. No paradoxes caused yet.

"What are you doing in here, Pietro?" the guy asked, scowling.

"Emm, hi Alex, well I wanted to introduce Kitty, she's-"

"This is why people don't like you," Alex said, his eyes skimming over Kitty like she wasn't there, and he glared at Pietro. "What are you even doing? Kitty? Just get out of my room man."

Kitty stepped forward. She was suddenly scared, but didn't have reason to be.

"Hello?" she said, waving a hand like some sort of lunatic. Alex didn't react in the slightest.

"Okay, sorry Alex, gotta go," Pietro said hurriedly, and they ran back through the wall again.

She turned to him the second they were through but Pietro was gone. Kitty whipped around, and saw him on the bed again.  
"Weird," Pietro said. "Alex couldn't see you at all. Like you're a ghost. Are you a ghost? That would be awesome. Maybe that's another power of mine, seeing supernatural shit."

"Hold on," she said. Her mind was whirling faster than Pietro moved. "Look, I wasn't born by 1974," she said.

"Yeah that's weird, you're like super young but not really."

Kitty turned to him. "I'm not born yet. I always thought that I'd project my consciousness to my younger self, but if I'm not born yet, then I'm just, what, a projection?"

"Talk about an existential crisis," Pietro said.

"Maybe I'm not really visible, or something, but your eyes move so fast you can see me anyway."

"Weren't you lucky you met me first then? C'mon, let's go outside, I'm bored."

They sat in the grounds. The place was more over-run than it was in 2014, and quieter. She got the impression that less students were attending in 1974, though she didn't know why.

"Pietro? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, sure once it's not totally embarrassing."

"Is your hair naturally grey?"

Pietro ran a hand through it. "Do you like it? It's silver though, not grey. It's where I got my alias from. Quicksilver. It's good, isn't it? Yeah, all-natural here. I'm not the kind to dye for my art. What's your name anyway?"

"Kitty," she said a little self-consciously. She was a bit hurt that he'd forgotten.

"No no, I knew that obviously, I mean your alias. Your codename."

"Oh, emm, I don't have one yet."

"Lemme think. What about sexy-time-temptress?"

She lightly cuffed him on the arm and he raised both hands up. "Hey, hey that was uncalled for. Though you're right, 'sexy-time-temptress' is a mouthful. Let's see, Kitty. Pussy maybe?"

She poked him again. "Not funny Pietro."

"What?" he asked, his eyes innocent.

"I guess that just means something else in 2014."

"Oh okay," he said. "I won't ask what. Not pussy so. Cat?"

"Bit short."

"Well okay. You can walk through time and space unseen, quiet as a shadow-" His face lit up. "Shadowcat! It's perfect."

"Shadowcat," she repeated slowly, testing it out.

"You'll learn to love it. You already love me, so the name'll grow on you too."

Kitty looked at him, scandalised. "I do not already love you Pietro."

Pietro raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it's the other way around then," and suddenly he was far far closer to her than he had been before, his hand under her jaw.  
"Because I think you're pretty awesome."

He closed the distance slowly, his eyes watching her with care, but she didn't pull away. Then their lips were touching and her hands were in his silver hair and it was yet another thing she hadn't expected today.

VI.

"Bobby? I do need you to remain calm."

Bobby smiled, but it was a little forced. "Sorry Prof. It's just, I hope she's alright."

The Prof smiled back. "I have the utmost faith in Ms Pryde. Now if you wouldn't mind?"

Bobby nodded, and let himself freeze the lock, and then gave it a good, sharp kick. It shattered. It was a useful trick to have in times like these. Ice powers were usually completely useless in day to day life. He opened the door for the Prof, who wheeled himself in. Bobby dithered in the doorway for another moment and then let himself in too.

Kitty was lying in the bed, just looking like she was asleep except for the fact that glowing blue light was going from her hands to her temples.

"And now we wait," the Prof said, a touch dramatically. Bobby hoped she'd be back sooner rather than later.

It was a long time later before her and Pietro pulled themselves off one another. Pietro went and got them both ice-creams, and after those, they just lay on the grass, him with his arm around her and her curled up against his chest.

"My poor Mom," Pietro was saying, "I'd hate to have raised me, I was a mess. Speeding all over the place. Changing my diaper must have been a nightmare. How were you as a kid?"

"I couldn't control my powers when I was younger either. I used to fall through the ceiling a lot. Broke more bones than I can count," she said.

Kitty used to have nightmares that she wouldn't stop falling, that she'd keep sinking until she was trapped miles underground to die.

Hank had built her a special bed when she'd got to the school, lead-lined, four-inches thick. She couldn't phase that far when she was asleep- that would take concentration- and there had been no more incidents. Hank was good like that.

"Our parent's must have gone insane," Pietro said in agreement. "Well," and his face twisted, "Not my dad. Met him for the first time last year. Didn't even know who I was. The man has never changed a diaper in his life, never mind raised a mutant."

She turned to look at him. "I'm sorry Pietro."

"Nah it's hardly your fault. Don't particularly want to get to know him anyway. He's a known criminal. Well so am I, but that's besides the point. You and I would be a good criminal team, you know?"

She laughed. "Would we?"

"Sure we would! You could bust us in anywhere in the world, and I could do the stealing in like two seconds, and we'd be gone."

"Incredible," she said. "But unfortunately I use my power for good, sorry about that."

"Ahh but come on Kitty, our powers aren't meant to be used for good. Like Logan for example, do you know him? He's the ultimate fighter. You think that's a helpful force for peace, having claws?"

"He does the best he can."

"I guess. My dad doesn't though. Do you think I should go see him anyway?"

"I honestly don't know Pietro. You probably should give him a chance."

"You're right. C'mon now though, you're tired. Let's get you back to your own timeline."

She frowned. "I think I quite like 1974."

"What's not to like? I'm here, aren't I? Look though, go back before someone notices you're gone. You can always come back again tomorrow," and then Pietro was looking down, "well, if you want to, that is."

"Of course I want to," she said. "I'll be here so often that you'll be sick of me."

"I doubt that," Pietro said sincerely, and they stood up, and she let him wrap his arms around her, one careful hand on her neck, and in seconds they were in the bedroom.

"Thought you should leave from where you came from," he said.

Kitty smiled. "Don't worry, I will come back tomorrow."

"Worry? Who's worrying that the coolest girl he's ever met is going to disappear as fast as she arrived? Not me."

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly again. "Tomorrow," she promised.

He watched her as she lay down again, and neither of them said a word as she put her hands to her temple. She smiled at him one last time and thought home.

VII.

"How are you feeling?" a familiar voice asked her.

She sat up, groggy. It was her own room again, 2014, with the proper wall-paper in place. The Prof was in his wheelchair beside her bed. She saw Bobby in the corner, looked abashed. "Sorry," he mouthed. She didn't blame him. He had probably been worried, bless him.

"I'm fine," she said. No-one offered her a glass of water this time, she noted, and then smiled, thinking about Pietro.

"Kitty, where did you go?" The Prof asked her. So 'Ms Pryde' was gone. She didn't like to think what that meant.

"1974" she said, looking away.

"Did you encounter anyone?" he asked.

"Just one person. Pietro, he was a student at this school. He was the only one who could see me. Prof, where is he now, I've never heard of him?"

The Professor's face fell, and Kitty felt a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach.  
"Pietro Maximoff was an extraordinary young man," he began, looking away. "We only had him here at the school for a few short months. His father was Erik Lehnsherr, or as he likes to be called now, Magneto. One night Pietro ran away from the school to go find Erik, hoping to talk to him.  
Erik was in a dangerous situation at the time with the Brotherhood. Pietro got caught up in the ensuing battle, and not knowing who he was, one of Erik's men overpowered and killed Pietro."

Kitty stared at him, not understanding why he looked so distraught. "Professor, I said I'd go back tomorrow, so I can warn him, we can change this-"

"No."

She pushed herself up from the bed. "What do you mean, no? I have a chance to save his life, I have to do it-"

"Kitty, time-travel is an extremely risky undertaking. By warning Pietro, you would change the entire timeline of mutantkind. All of our lives would be changed irrevocably. I cannot allow you to do it."

"But I told him, I said he should go see his dad-"

The professor looked at her, and she looked down, ashamed.  
"It's a stable time loop," he said, like that meant anything to her. "You cannot blame yourself Kitty. Pietro was always going to go."

She was crying now, tears spilling down her cheeks, and Bobby was by her side, a hand on her shoulder. "Please Professor, you don't understand-" she said.

"I do understand Kitty. Since I found out about your latent ability to travel through time, do you not think I've contemplated changing events? I could stop myself from being crippled that day in Cuba. I could stop Erik, my oldest friend, from ever having to be in a concentration camp, from having to watch his mother be killed in front of him. I could have asked you to go back and save Erik's son, whose death lead Erik on a darker path than ever. I did not. The past is the past Kitty, and we should leave it alone. Saving Pietro Maximoff's life forty years ago could result in a future where all of us are dead. I cannot allow it. I am sorry Kitty."

She understood his words but could not speak. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, and Bobby was rubbing her shoulder, looking worried.

"I can make you forget, if you wish," Charles said to her, something unknown in his voice and broken in his voice.

"N-no, no thank you professor. I'd prefer to remember. I won't go back though."

"Thank you Ms Pryde. I know it is hard, but you must remember that Pietro has been dead for forty years. The boy you met tonight was a ghost, nothing more."

She nodded, still unable to speak. The Prof rolled himself out of the room quietly, and then paused at the door. "Thank you for your help tonight Bobby," he said, and then he was gone and it was just her and Bobby.

"I'm sorry Bobby, you must have been worried-" Kitty said, her voice still choked.

"It's alright. Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her like he was scared of what she was going to do.

"I'm fine," she said. She just had to hold it together hold enough to reassure him. "Bobby, I'm sorry, but do you mind if I just kinda have a moment?" She felt awful for kicking him out after everything, but she just wanted to be alone.

"Sure thing. See you tomorrow Kitty," Bobby said. He smiled as he shut the door.

When he left the tears came back, and she was sobbing without any control over it. There was a whoosh, and then she felt herself touch the floor. She'd phased through the bed, all four inches of lead. Emotional turmoil. That hadn't happened by accident in years, since she was a small, scared kid. She could barely breathe.

She looked up at the bed from where she was on the floor, tears still blurring her vision. There was something written on the boards that supported the mattress, a message scrawled in with a marker.

Hey shadowcat, it read, I really don't think anyone else is going to be under here but you. You never turned up tonight, but that's okay. I was afraid that would happen. I bet you got caught. Anyway, I'm a little bored now - obviously, seeing as I'm writing on a bed hoping a girl will see it in 40 years time- so gonna go find Dad. See you tomorrow, I hope.  
Pietro.

Kitty couldn't stop the tears, but pulled herself out from under the bed and curled into a ball on her bed. If she was going to accidentally phase again let it be through the bed, not the floor. She did not think she could take anymore pain tonight.


End file.
